Transformative Novelty Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A novelty headgear apparatus made from a formed, three-dimensional paperboard box is presented. The inventive apparatus, and method for making same, comprises the use of guides applied to a formed, three-dimensional paperboard box in any headgear configuration selected by a producer. The user thereafter tears or cuts along the guides to reveal the selected headgear. Multiple pieces and indicia may also be applied or enabled in the device.

I. TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a novelty apparatus and, more particularly, to a novelty apparatus comprising transformative headgear formed from a three dimensional box wherein the box has perforations, indicia or other marking means which enable a user to transform the box into a type of headgear and method for making same.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Novelty items are well known. They are found in many settings, including but not limited to sports team or event support and often include logos, sponsorship information, or other indicia. In these settings, novelty items are found in a variety of formats. One popular format is headgear, often in the form of a hat, mask, visor, or other wearable configuration. The prior art is replete with examples of such items. For non-limiting example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,272, U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,582, U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,842, U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,800, U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,420, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,659 all disclose novelty headgear. As will be noted and appreciated by those skilled in the arts, a shortcoming of the prior art, as disclosed and claimed, is it all starts and ends with the premise that the headgear is formed from a piece of flat paperboard and folded into a shape, being held in place generally by a series of tabs and slots.

The Inventors have discovered that an improved novelty headgear apparatus can be made from a formed, three-dimensional box (hereinafter referred to as “box” or “container”), like those used in the sale of beverages, such as soft drinks or beer, or other consumer items. Use of a box enables beverage or other consumer item manufacturers to increase sales through promotional programs with various organizations such as professional sports teams, colleges, corporate sponsors and others; sports teams, leagues, corporate sponsors, and others to increase exposure and loyalty through participating in promotional programs; and, fans and supporters to demonstrate their fan status or affiliations through the use of the invention without having to spend extra money on a separate item, and they are able to do so immediately. In addition, the present invention is ecologically sound in that it decreases the need for excess material since the box is used for multiple purposes, i.e., a container for products which is then repurposed as the inventive novelty headgear.

There is need, therefore, for a novelty headgear apparatus made from a formed, three dimensional box that helps to increase brand loyalty and sales through the use of guides in pre-determined locations to create a repeatable finished apparatus. The present invention provides such a solution.

III. OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a source for novelty headgear.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide novelty headgear that enables a user to form a novelty headgear from a formed, three dimensional box.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide novelty headgear which can be used for promotional and fan support purposes.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an alternate use for consumer packaging.

It is yet another object of the invention to decrease waste and cost by providing a means for multiple uses of consumer packaging.

It is an advantage of the present invention to enable manufacturers of products to increase sales by providing a new avenue for promotional programs.

It is another advantage of the present invention to enable advertisers, such as, but not limited to, sports teams and corporate sponsors, to increase exposure and create brand loyalty through an alternate advertising medium.

It is yet another advantage of the present invention to enable fans and supporters to demonstrate their loyalty without having to expend money on additional items.

It is yet a further advantage of the present invention to decrease waste by providing an alternate use for consumer packaging.

IV. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above objects and advantages are provided for in a novelty headgear apparatus particularly adapted to be used as a promotional item to be used by fans and supporters at sporting and other events or venues but may also be used for other purposes as well. The novelty headgear of the present invention is preferably comprised of a formed, three dimensional box further comprising perforations or scoring in designated patterns which may then be torn or cut along to form the novelty headgear. Alternatively, dotted or solid lines may serve as guides along which consumers can cut to form the headgear. (Together, perforations, scores or scoring, dotted lines and solid lines may also be referred to as “guides.”)

The guides may be configured to simulate various types of head coverings including, but not limited to helmets (e.g., football, baseball batting helmets, hockey, race car, motorcycle), caps (e.g., baseball or general, such as may be seen used by car racing fans), masks, visors, military helmets, firefighter helmet, and astronaut helmets. Still other configurations may simulate various types of sporting event mascots, various types of animals, monsters, holiday figures or figurines, various types of food, well known public figures, corporate logos, non-descript headgear such as a “wizard” hat, or virtually any other type of head gear, object, thing or design that may be desired for a particular promotion, giveaway, or event that may be formed from a three dimensional box.

In addition, separate features, such as 3-D glasses, face guard, chin strap, or applique, such as team logo stickers, corporate logos, flexible displays, etc., may be included.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a representative helmet configured box wherein the guides are shown in an intact three dimensional box.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an elongated box.

FIG. 3 is a straight on view of the bottom of a box illustrating guides along the back of the box bottom.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a box transformed into a helmet after main guides are followed and excess material removed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating three dimensional glasses, and, further, caps for use to attach the three dimensional glasses (or face guard) to a helmet.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the use and attachment of an alternate embodiment wherein three dimensional glasses are used, and further the use of caps for attachment.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a representative helmet with excess material removed and without a face guard or three dimensional glasses attached.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a representative helmet with excess material removed and further illustrating slots and punch-out, and representative indicia placement area.

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating the inventive device guides in the configuration of a cap.

FIG. 10. is a side view illustrating the inventive device guides in the configuration of a visor.

FIG. 11 is a top view illustrating the inventive device guides in the configuration of a visor illustrating a visor head opening.

FIG. 12 is a back view illustrating the inventive device guides in the configuration of a visor illustrating adjustment means.

V. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TUE INVENTION

Before explaining the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited in its application to the details of arrangements of the components set forth in the following description. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the arts, the present invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. It is also to be understood that where ranges are provided for various aspects of the invention and for examples, they are approximate ranges and are not to be limiting except where noted otherwise.

Turning to FIG. 1, a representative box 20 is seen. Box 20 is a fully formed, three dimensional container for holding products such as beverages. Box 20 may also be a container for other items such as snack products, tools, etc. The contents of box 20 are not critical to the invention. It is only necessary that box 20 be of sufficient size to be useful in the configuration of a target headgear style. For instance, many products, particularly beverages, are sold in a rectangular box having sides of approximately equal area. Other styles of boxes, such as an elongated container 20A, as depicted in FIG. 2, can be used to effect the present invention. As seen in FIG. 2, elongated container 20A has guides 21 which illustrate that more than one headgear can be made from a single box (shown as B and C). Only the type of desired headgear configuration will impact the size box that is employed.

Moreover, the preferred embodiment employs a heavy paper or cardboard (Also referred to throughout as “paperboard”). As those skilled in the arts will appreciate, the present invention is suitable for other materials that hold their shape and can be perforated, cut, folded (for non-limiting example, plastic) without exceeding the scope or spirit of the invention.

Returning to FIG. 1, a football helmet 22 configuration is depicted as the selected configuration. As can further be seen, main guide 24 is shown extending along the box front 26 (including in this example, box handle A. As will be noted by those skilled in the art, in the case of a box having box handles, the handle can be located on any and all the various box sides. Box handle location is determined by the structural integrity of the box and the headgear configuration.) and extending to box side A 28 (main guide 24 also extends to the opposite box side 30, not shown, in a similar fashion.) and, as depicted in FIG. 3, along bottom 32 and near to box back 34. FIG. 4 depicts box 20 with excess material removed to reveal helmet 22. Returning again to FIG. 1, secondary guide 36 is included and enables a user to further transform box 20 by creating a face guard 38. Face guard 38 further includes face guard punch-outs 40 which, when the punch-outs are removed, provide a more realistic face guard than without them. Face guard 38 has face guard end 42 (there is a similar end on the opposite side of face guard 38, not shown). Face guard end 42 reversibly fits into slot 44. Additionally, other embodied uses of the portion of box 20 can be made other than a face guard. For non-limiting example, and as seen in FIG. 5, 3 dimensional glasses 46 can be employed in the packaging. In the ease of three dimensional glasses, slot 44 would be place in an appropriate position for three dimensional glasses as depicted in FIG. 6. This effectively changes helmet 22 from a football helmet into a space helmet. If no face guard, three dimensional glasses or other supplementary portion is used, helmet 22 may be seen as configured as a batting helmet.

The guides employed to create the design for the configuration of the inventive headgear can be of any type or style suitable to the type of box and headgear selected. In the preferred embodiment, guides are perforations which can be torn along to create the headgear from the three dimensional box. In some instances, perforations may not be suitable. For instance, the weight of the paperboard or products contained in it may cause inadvertent tearing during transport or there may be prohibitive manufacturing costs associated with perforations. In these instances, other types of guides may be used, including but not limited to, scoring of the paperboard or the printing of solid or dotted lines along which a user may cut.

Alternatively, Face guard end 42 can be configured to attach to Helmet 22 through other means. Turning to FIG. 5, ring caps 48 are shown as attachment means. Ring caps 48 can be made to include reflectors, team or other sponsors indicia or logos. While a slot and a ring cap are illustrated, those skilled in the arts will understand that any attachments means may be used to secure face guard 38, three dimensional glasses 46, or other devices to helmet 22.

Turning again to FIG. 1, and also to FIG. 7, helmet 22 can also include earhole punch-out 50 and indicia placement area 52. Of course, these are optional and, as is the spirit and scope of the invention, can be placed only if needed and, further, there can be one or more of them. Earhole punch-out 50 can also serve as an attachment means, such as ring cap 48. When used as an attachment means, earhole punch-out 50 may include tabs 56 and slot 44 would then be replaced with horizontal slot 58, which are spaced to accept tabs 56. Indicia placement area 52 can be pre-printed with appropriate indicia or, alternatively, stickers could be included in the packaging for placement, or the space could be a blank for the user to draw in whatever suits his or her fancy.

As described, any type of headgear suitable for the size and shape of the target box 20 is contemplated in the spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, guides 24 may be placed place at a higher horizontal plane along box side A 28 and box side B 30 and box front 26 to create a cap 60, such as depicted in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 depicts an example of a visor 62, with FIG. 11 illustrating the box top 64 of the visor wherein it is shown that the user's head can protrude through the visor. Further, FIG. 12 illustrates a back view of a visor 62 showing a visor strap separator 66 to enable the visor to be adjustable. The visor strap separator 66 further having a visor tab 68 which can be fit reversibly into one of the visor slots 70 in order to adjust the visor size.

The method of producing novelty headgear from a three-dimensional box comprises the steps of applying guides to a three-dimensional box, the guides being in the configuration of a type of headgear desired by the producer. Once the guides are applied, the user can tear or separate excess material from the bo, following the guides, to reveal the intended headgear. The producer may also include additional features through the use of secondary guides to also include reversibly attachable item such as a face mask or three-dimensional glasses. Other indicia may also be applied, the indicia being in the form of stickers and the like. The guides applied to the box being of various varieties, including but not limited to, perforations, scorings, printed solid and dotted lines.

It is also to be understood, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the preferred and alternative embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. More specifically, as those skilled in the arts will understand the configuration options are limited only by the imagination of the headgear designer. Any type or shape of headgear can be made using the principles of the invention on a formed, three-dimensional box. 

We claim:
 1. A novelty headgear comprising a three-dimensional box further comprising guides strategically located on the three-dimensional box, the guides in the configuration of a headgear style.
 2. The novelty headgear of claim 1 wherein the headgear style is selected from the group comprising football helmets, baseball batting helmets, race car, motorcycle, caps, masks, visors, military helmets, firefighter helmet, astronaut helmets, mascots, various types of animals, monsters, holiday figures or figurines, various types of food, well known public figures, corporate logos, and non-descript headgear.
 3. The guides of claim 1 selected from the group comprising perforations, scoring, dotted lines, and solid lines.
 4. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising secondary guides forming the contours of ancillary attachments for the novelty headgear.
 5. The secondary guides of claim 4 comprising a face mask.
 6. The face mask of claim 5 including punch-outs.
 7. The secondary guides of claim 4 comprising three-dimensional glasses.
 8. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one earhole punch-out.
 9. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one indicia placement area.
 10. The novelty headgear of claim 1 comprised of paperboard.
 11. The visor of claim 2 further comprising an elongated headband piece further including a strap separator to separate the headband piece into a first headband piece having a first headband piece end and a second headband piece having a second headband piece end, the first headband piece further having adjustment slots adjacent the first headband piece end, the second headband piece further including a tab adjacent the second headband piece end for reversibly and adjustably fitting into the first headband piece slots.
 12. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one slot for accepting ancillary headgear fittings.
 13. The at least one earhole punch-out of claim 8 further being adapted to reversibly affix to the novelty headgear.
 14. A method for producing novelty headgear from a three-dimensional box comprising the steps of Placing guides on the three-dimensional box in the contour of a selected headgear; and, Separating excess material from the three-dimensional box by following the guide such that the shape of the selected headgear results.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the selected headgear is selected from the group comprising football helmets, baseball batting helmets, caps, masks, visors, military helmets, firefighter helmet, astronaut helmets, mascots, various types of animals, monsters, holiday figures or figurines, various types of food, well known public figures, corporate logos, and non-descript headgear.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein the guides are selected from the group comprising perforations, scoring, dotted lines, and solid lines.
 17. The method of claim 14 further comprising the further step of including secondary guides forming the contours of ancillary attachments for the novelty headgear.
 18. The secondary guides of claim 17 comprising a face mask.
 19. The face mask of claim 18 including the further step of punch-outs.
 20. The secondary guides of claim 17 comprising a three dimensional glasses.
 21. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of including at least one earhole punch-out.
 22. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of including at least one indicia placement area.
 23. The visor of claim 2 further comprising an elongated headband piece further including a strap separator to separate the headband piece into a first headband piece having a first headband piece end and a second headband piece having a second headband piece end, the first headband piece further having adjustment slots adjacent the first headband piece end, the second headband piece further including a tab adjacent the second headband piece end for reversibly and adjustably fitting into the first headband piece slots.
 24. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one slot for accepting ancillary headgear fittings.
 25. The at least one earhole punch-out of claim 8 further being adapted to reversibly affix to the novelty headgear. 